bacon

I grew up in Charleston, SC, so I’ve definitely eaten a lot of shrimp and grits. When I moved to Philadelphia, I couldn’t find any restaurants with good grits. Seriously, they were always watery and flavorless. Yuck. Bad grits everywhere meant that I was more likely to win the lottery than find good shrimp and grits at a restaurant. That meant I needed to learn how to make them or buy a plane ticket home every time I had a craving. Now I have a lot of variations of shrimp and grits that I make. Sometimes I add peppers or tomatoes, and I like to use stone ground grits when I have more time. Definitely know what kind of grits you’re working with before you start cooking. Stone ground take a lot longer than quick cook, and friends don’t let friends use instant grits.

Recipe makes 2 servings.

Ingredients

For the grits

1 cup chicken stock

⅓ cup heavy cream

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp white pepper

⅓ cup quick cook grits

2 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed

½ cup cheddar cheese

For the sauce & shrimp

4 pieces bacon, diced

1-2 pieces of andouille sausage, cut into half moons

1 small onion, diced

1½ tsp flour

½ lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined

⅓ cup heavy cream

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cajun seasoning

Instructions

For the sauce & shrimp

Preheat a saute pan over medium heat. Add the bacon, onions, and sausage. Cook until the bacon starts to get crispy, stirring occasionally. (Make sure to start the grits a few minutes into this.)

Move the bacon, sausage, and onions to the back of the saute pan. Tilt the pan to get all of the bacon and sausage fat to come down onto one side. Add the flour and stir into the bacon and sausage fat. Once it makes a nice paste, move the onions, sausage, and bacon back and stir. Add the shrimp and fully cook them. Add the heavy cream to the pan, stirring the whole time, and scraping the bits of brown from the bottom of the pan. Stir in salt and cajun seasoning. Serve over grits.

For the grits

Add the chicken stock, heavy cream, salt, and white pepper to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the grits, reduce the heat to low, and cook for about 10 minutes, whisking frequently. Turn off the heat. Add butter and cheddar, and stir until well-incorporated into the grits. Put a lid on the saucepan and let the grits rest for at least 5 minutes.

Like this:

I don’t remember when I first tried the bacon pepper jam, but it was before I even started doing Tastefully Simple. I was hooked and decided I needed to have this on hand at all times. It’s only available seasonally, so I stocked up on several jars before the end of last year’s fall/winter season. I just told my wife it’s back for the current fall/winter season, and she was very excited.

Like this:

I make pretty good “regular” deviled eggs, and occasionally I like to mix it up and do something different. My bestie got me a deviled egg transporter for my birthday, which I desperately needed. The last time I transported deviled eggs to a party, it was kind of a disaster. I used the carrier for the first time yesterday, and all of the eggs stayed in place!

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Boil eggs. My foolproof method for making boiled eggs (actually, I have to give my wife credit for this one) is to put the eggs into a wok, cover with salty water, bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat off, cover, and leave them undisturbed for 15 minutes. Let the eggs cool.

Cut each egg in half, and empty yolks into a mixer bowl. Add ¼ cup mayo and 1 tbsp + 1 tsp mustard. Mix well, until smooth. Look at the texture and taste it. Add more mayo or mustard as needed. If it’s crumbly, add more mayo. If it’s bland, add more mustard.

Normally I add about 1-2 tsp bacon pepper jam into the mixture, but we’re running low and I didn’t want to take the chance of not having enough for the tops of the eggs.

Fill a piping bag with the mixture and fill each egg. Top with a small amount of bacon pepper jam.

Tip: Put a small drop of filling under each egg to keep them from sliding around on your serving tray.